


Time, the Prom, and Dean

by Waffleknit_Narwhal



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mostly Stupid Jokes and Fluff, Newly Human Castiel (Supernatural), Protective Dean Winchester, Team Free Will 2.0, the smallest bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-03
Updated: 2019-03-03
Packaged: 2019-11-08 11:48:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17980760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waffleknit_Narwhal/pseuds/Waffleknit_Narwhal
Summary: Team Free Will 2.0 stumbles upon a weird town where time is rumored to stand still. Meanwhile, Dean is struggling with the repercussions of a human Castiel, Sam as usual, is trying to be reasonable, and Jack is curious about what this prom thing is.Silly one shot I wrote mostly on the fly because I got a scene into my head and created an entire plot around getting there.





	Time, the Prom, and Dean

 

              It had been a rough case: clowns _and_ vampires. Sam was still shaking, Dean was white-knuckling Baby’s steering wheel, Jack, inexplicably, was sawing logs in the back seat, and Cas, well Cas had taken off again.

              It wasn’t his fault. Dean was just trying to protect him and his newly human status. It wasn’t his fault Cas got all pissy when he told him to stay behind in the motel room. He just couldn’t lose him again.

              They had defeated the baddies, cleaned up the mess, but when they returned to the motel Cas was gone. Only a note let Dean know he had left of his own volition and hadn’t been kidnapped by one of the monsters they had missed.

              “Dammit Cas!” Dean shouted, crumpled the note and pelted it against the wall.

              Sam stooped to pick it up and turned a concerned look at Dean. “He just wants to be useful. Wouldn’t you want the same thing?”

              Dean didn’t answer.

              “Why would Castiel leave?” Jack drew his brows together.

              “I’m sure he’ll catch up with us soon.” Sam patted his shoulder and gave Dean a wide berth as he moved around to gather his things.

              Dean scowled but stayed silent.

              So there they were, a hundred miles down the road, radio blaring, an uncomfortable silence between the brothers.

              “Dean -”

              “No Sam. I’m not talking about it.”

              “If you’d just tried to see it from his point of view…” Sam trailed off.

              “His point of view? Well let’s see here Sammy.” He ticked the list off on his fingers. “He gave up his grace for Chuck knows what. Last tme he was drained the best he could do was sleeping in a Sip ‘N Go closet. He can die now Sam!” He punctuated that last with a pointed glare at his brother. The moonlight slanted across his face and Sam knew this was more than anger.

              “He _has_ died, Dean. And you know why he gave up his grace.” Sam glanced to the back seat where Jack was still sleeping soundly.

              “Well it didn’t work did it?” Dean made a frustrated gesture with one hand. “The charge up didn’t last near as long as we expected it to and now we’ve got _two_ formerly angelic beings to babysit.”

              “Dean!” Sam looked back hoping Jack hadn’t heard.

              That jolted him out of his anger. He was still feeling guilty for giving the kid a hard time when they first met so Dean relented. “I don’t like worrying about him,” he said quietly.

              “I know but he doesn’t need your protection. He needs our support.”

              Dean scrubbed his face with one hand. Fuck, he was tired. “Alright.”

              “Alright?”

              “Yeah, okay? You win.”

              Sam turned his face to the window and smiled to himself, “Alright.”

              “I can see your reflection in the glass, bitch.”

              Sam looked back at his brother, smile still in place, “Jerk.”

 

 

              “Dean, I don’t think this place is open.” Jack surveyed the empty lobby of the hotel they had stopped at for the night.

              “Hello?” Sam rang the bell at the desk but it echoed without an answer.

              Dean jumped the desk and grabbed a few keys off the back wall. “If they show up in the morning we’ll settle up.”

              “What if they don’t show up?” Jack asked.

              Dean shrugged. Jack looked horrified. Another reason he liked the kid. He was really easy to rile.

              A flyer on the desk caught Jack’s attention. “Prom Night 1987?”

              Sam peered over Jack’s shoulder and took in the flashy font and shadow images of a stereotypical heterosexual couple dancing through – what were they? Snowflakes? Stars? Random bits of debris? “Weird.”

              “They look happy.” Jack smiled.

              Dean looked over and huffed a laugh. “Somebody was really getting authentic with their reunion plans.”

              Sam frowned. “Maybe, but uh -” he ran a finger along a side table in the lobby and came up with a substantial amount of dust. “I guess it’s been a while since they’ve cleaned.” He turned to his brother. “Are you sure you want to bed down _here_ tonight? This doesn’t exactly bode well for the bedbug situation.”

              “Come on Sammy,” he reached up to riffle his brother’s hair, “we’ve stayed in worse places than this!” He turned back toward the hallway and ran into a solid wall of trench coat. Shaking himself mentally Dean took a step back and glared.

              Acting as if it were perfectly normal for him to be there Cas looked around a moment then met Dean’s eyes. “Yes, you’ve stayed in less desirable accommodations.”

              “Well look who decided to show up!”

              Sam took a step forward and laid a hand on his shoulder, “Dean.” There was a warning in his tone. “Cas, it’s good to see you. How did you know we were here?”

              Cas looked guilty for a moment. “I didn’t. I was actually almost back to the bunker when I saw an article in a paper about this town being frozen in time. I thought it deserved an investigation.”

              “Frozen in time? Like this?” Jack handed Castiel the prom flyer.

              “That’s… concerning,” Cas looked to the brothers, “I assumed that’s why I saw your car parked outside.

              “Well frozen in time equals free hotel stay, so I say we raid the mini fridge, get some shut-eye, and worry about this in the morning.” Dean smiled at the other three and headed to the elevator. “I’ve got dibs on the biggest suite!” He yelled as the doors shut.

              Cas rolled his eyes, flipped up the desk top and grabbed a key off the wall, noting which ones were already missing. “I’ll be upstairs in room…” he examined the fob, “two twenty-three.”

              “Great,” Sam said unenthusiastically.

 

 

              Dean strode through the hall looking at each key and trying to determine which room would be the best. “Four… sixty-seven. That sounds lucky.” He picked up the pace a bit.

              Fitting the key into the lock he was suddenly aware these weren’t swipe cards but actual keys. It gave him pause but only for a moment. “Hippie boutique fancy bullshit,” he muttered to himself and opened the door. It was cold inside which was weird because it was a balmy 85 degrees out and humid as hell. “Thank god for air conditioning!” He rummaged around the room a bit, found the mini fridge, and flopped down on the king sized bed with several tiny bottles of liquor. A cloud of dust immediately surrounded him and he coughed violently.

 

 

              “Jack, why don’t you stay with one of us tonight? You’ve been looking pretty beat.” Sam didn’t want him alone especially after they’d nearly lost him for good just a few weeks prior.

              “Okay. I’ll try not to snore.” He took a couple steps to follow Sam then stopped, concerned. “Will Dean be alright by himself?”

              Sam smiled, “I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

              “But Castiel said there might be something going on here. Shouldn’t we be investigating?”

              “We’ll be on our guard, but right now I think Dean’s right. We all need some rest after that last case.” He breathed a quiet sigh of relief, took one last look around for red noses, then they both stepped into the elevator.

 

 

              Pouring several small bottles of whiskey into the lowball he found on the dresser Dean took a sip then took a closer look at the bottle he still held in his hand and shook his head. “Geez, they’ve even gone vintage with their liquor bottle labels.”

He turned and spied the radio in the corner, sighing when he saw it was a model he hadn’t seen since his childhood. He turned the dial until he found a station playing semi-suitable music and laid back down on the bed now stripped of the covers. He took another long drink of the whiskey and closed his eyes, letting the music wash over him.

Another song came on the radio. He recognized the tune but hadn’t heard it in a while.

_Well I’ll be damned_

_Here comes your ghost again_

_But that’s not unusual_

_It’s just that the moon is full_

_And you happened to call_

Something pulled at him, wanting him to recognize what was coming next.

              _And here I sit_

_Hand on the telephone_

_Hearing a voice I’d known_

_A couple of lightyears ago_

_Heading straight for a fall_

Dean sat up, eyes wide, staring at the radio.

              _As I remember your eyes_

_Were bluer than robin’s eggs_

_My poetry was lousy you said_

_Where are you calling from?_

_A booth in the Midwest_

“Okay, nope!” Dean scrambled up and yanked the power cord from the wall. Now he remembered why he recognized the song. But why hadn’t he remembered those lyrics? He’d heard it _once_ right after Cas had… Once and he was a goddamn mess. Fucking Joan Baez. He tossed the rest of his drink down his throat and pushed back the memories.

 

 

Castiel opened his room and looked around. The room looked comfortable enough, but it was still covered in a layer of dust like the rest of the building. He felt uneasy. While he was exhausted, there was something stupendously wrong here. What had happened to the hotel staff? Where are the other guests? He turned back out of the room to find Sam and Jack.

 

 

              “I think the rooms are just as dusty as the lobby,” Sam coughed, peeling the covers off one of the beds in their room.

              Jack scrunched his nose and tossed them into the bathroom with a whump. “I guess free hotel doesn’t mean good hotel.”

              Sam laughed, “It never does.” He tossed his duffel bag on the bed and pulled out a knife tucking into the back of his waistband. Jack raised his eyebrows. “Just in case,” he shrugged.

              Jack nodded and laid down on the bed a bit stiffly. He still wasn’t used to this whole sleep thing. He stared at the ceiling while listening to Sam rummage around. “Sam?” A small dark spot had started to form above his head and it was growing larger.

              “What is it?”

              Jack couldn’t take his eyes off it. “Sam,” he said a bit more firmly.

              Sam’s head appeared above him. “What?” He sounded impatient. His brows drew together and he reached a hand up to touch the back of his head. Turning, something wet flies past his face and lands on Jack’s forehead.

              “Sam, I want to switch beds.”

 

 

              Dean is well on his way to feeling a nice buzz when he hears a commotion in the hallway. He pulls out his gun, happy to have a distraction from his thoughts.

              Easing the door open with the muzzle he peered around the doorframe. And promptly got his ass kicked.

              A hand shot out disarming him, then knocking him flat on his back. He groaned internally. He wasn’t nearly as young as he used to be, but he should still be able to take this guy. He was back on his feet in a moment, knife in hand, ready to send another monster to hell.

              “Dean?” The voice sounded guilty and _very_ familiar.

              “Cas? Dammit I almost shot you.” He lowered his hands and pulled the former angel into his room.

              “I was looking for Sam and Jack, but I think there’s something going on the room next to you.”

              Dean sighed. “Well let’s hope they didn’t hear that scuffle just now. What made you suspicious?”

              “There was a certain smell,” Castiel said slowly.

              “This whole place smells, Cas. Probably hasn’t been cleaned in a couple decades.”

              Cas shook his head. “Dean, I became human, but I, uh, didn’t lose all my angelic abilities.”

              Dean paused. “So what, you’re telling me you can smell something I can’t?”

              “It was blood.”

              A tapping at the window made them both swivel, drawing their weapons.

              “Castiel!” Jack smiled widely and waved frantically from the other side of the window pane. He glanced down then turned back to the room with a disturbed look. “Please let me in.”

              Dean strode over and pulled the window up. “Kid, what’re you doing out here?”

              “Same thing I am,” Sam said appearing from underneath as Jack crawled in.

              “What the hell, man?” Dean made sure Jack was on his feet then hauled his brother inside. Castiel inspected the younger of the two dragging a finger across a spot on his forehead. He sniffed it and was about to put the finger in his mouth when Dean caught his wrist.

              “Dude, gross. Remember you have to worry about communicable diseases now.”

              Castiel instead pulled a tissue from the box on the dresser and wiped his hand. “It’s the same as I smelled coming from the room next to yours.”

              Dean raised an eyebrow.

              “It was dripping from the ceiling,” Jack said with a disgusted look.

              “Here kid, you need this more than I do,” Dean handed over the lowball refilled now. Sam snaked out a hand to catch the glass before it reached Jack’s fingers and gave Dean a look. Dean shrugged.

              “I’m going to investigate the next room,” Castiel turned to the door.

              “Woah there, cowboy,” Dean put a hand to his chest, realized what he had done and quickly snatched it back, clearing his throat. “I’ll come with you. No sense getting ambushed.”

 

 

              Dean kicked the door down in one swift move. Castiel stared. Sometimes he forgot how much power was in that man. They both strode purposefully into the room looking for signs of danger.

              They saw it at the same time. Dean, still holding his gun out, made a face and buried his nose in the crook of his arm trying to block the smell of death and decay and blood. So. Much. Blood.

              The top of the pile looked fresh but upon further inspection the lower bodies appeared to have been desiccated and _very_ old.

              “This isn’t normal.”

              “You think, Sherlock?”

              “Dean, Jack said the spot appeared just now but these bodies appear to have been here for quite some time.”

              “Maybe they clean after discarding them? Or maybe they were just moved here.” Dean was skeptical.

              “Maybe,” Castiel’s tone said he didn’t think that at all.

              “Well, whatever did this looks like they’re gone now.”

              “Vampires,” Cas was bending over one of the fresher bodies and examining a mark on the forearm. He stood up. “Probably a nest.”

              “This is more than a nest, Cas. What about the rumor this town is frozen in time?”

              “I’m not sure,” he shook his head, “but Dean, this doesn’t look good.”

 

 

              “So we’re dealing with another nest of vamps? Dean, we already used up all our dead man’s blood with the last case.” Sam sat in the highback chair by the desk. Jack was perched on the bed cross-legged, and Dean was taking turns with Castiel pacing the floor.

              “Well, there’s a whole stockpile in the next room,” Dean thumbed toward the shared wall.

              “Any signs of stopped time?” Sam asked.

              Cas stopped pacing and looked at him. “No, but that would explain why they have been able to get so many victims.”

              “Yeah, but I don’t understand why they’d drag their old kills around,” Dean said thinking of the older bodies.

              “Maybe they aren’t old kills,” Jack said.

              Sam, Dean, and Cas turned to him as one. “What?” Sam asked.

              “Well, if time has stopped since…” he thought, “since 1987,” he said pulling out the crumpled prom flyer, “then wouldn’t the bodies revert to their _actual_ age once they’re out of the… the place where time was stopped?”

              Dean had to admit the kid had a point. “Okay, but time hasn’t stopped for us.” He looked at his little brother. “Why hasn’t it stopped for us?”

              Sam was tapping on his phone. “Maybe it’s a djinn?”

              “Djinn and vamps teaming up?”

              Sam shrugged and kept searching.

              Castiel looked between the brothers. “Could it be Michael again?”

              Dean’s attention snapped to him. “Are you telling me he has the power to stop time?!”

              He shook his head, “No, but Michael is the only one I’ve known to team up with vampires. Most other creatures are smart enough to stay away, present company excluded.”

              Dean rolled his eyes. That had been so long ago. Why did he feel the need to keep bringing it up?

              “Cronus,” Sam breathed and stood up. “Cronus was the son of Uranus -”

              “I’m sorry,” Dean said with a smirk, “the son of who now?”

              “Uranus -” Sam huffed then deadpanned. “Funny.” He cleared his throat. “It says here Ur- his father,” Cas rolled his eyes when Dean smirked again, “was defeated by Cronus castrating him with a scythe given to him by his mother Gaia.”

              Jack’s eyes were wide.

              “Yikes. Don’t wanna marry into that family.”

              “Sam,” Castiel prompted, “what about stopping time?”

              Sam continued, “Well, Cronus is the origin of the Father Time story, so he could be the one behind this.”

              “But why would he need the vampires around if he could just stop time?” Jack came off the bed.

              “Well, this says there’s a prophecy Cronus will be overthrown in the same way his father was,” he pulled a face, “Maybe it’s protection?”

              “Regardless, we should figure out where he’s staying.” Cas grabbed Dean’s duffel bag and rifled through it for a moment. “What will kill him?”

              “Um, that’s where we may have some trouble.” Sam smiled humorlessly. “Only the scythe his mother, Gaia, gave him will kill him.”

              “Awesome,” Dean rolled his head on his shoulders.

 

 

              The four of them rolled slowly through town, Baby’s engine sounding louder than usual in the silent town.

              “Dean, stop,” Cas started to jump out of the car before it had stopped.

              The other three grabbed their weapons and followed the former angel.

              “What makes you think he’s here?” Sam looked at the high school building in front of them.

              “Look at the trees. There,” he pointed across the street to a weeping willow swaying in a yard. “And there.” This time he pointed to the maples in the schoolyard.

              “They’re not moving.” Sam exchanged a look with Dean who then turned to Jack.

              “Stay close, kid.”

              Jack nodded.

              “And you,” Dean said harshly to Cas, “Don’t do anything stupid.”

              Cas narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to one side. “I kicked _your_ ass didn’t I?”

              Sam’s eyebrows went up as he looked between the two.

              Dean ignored the remark and headed inside the school giving his machete a couple of good swings along the way.

              Opening the door, the first thing Dean noticed was the pulsing beat of the tail end of Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark’s Enola Gay filling the halls. Next, the decorations looked like they were straight from Pretty in Pink. That made him groan inwardly. He hated the ending of that movie.

              Cas came up beside him. “We should be safe from the initial time stop. It only affects those in the vicinity when it’s enacted, but I suggest we move quickly.”

              “Right,” he nodded.

              Jack was distracted for a moment by the balloons and streamers. He smiled, “At least it’s pretty.”

              “Yeah, up until you get dead,” Dean countered.

              Sam motioned with the barrel of his gun toward the gym. “Let’s uh, let’s move in the direction of The Safety Dance.”

              The music swelled as they opened the double doors. People were dancing everywhere. It looked like the entire town had crowded into the small gymnasium. They were all dressed in early 80’s styles and were utterly oblivious to the foursome who had just entered.

              They were also oblivious to the vampires in their midst, snacking on their arteries at leisure. Dean sliced the head off the one closest to him while the vamp’s victim still danced, smile plastered on his young face. Sam pointed his gun into the crowd and fired off a few well aimed shots, taking down four vamps. Jack, who had been watching too many Jackie Chan movies, took a running kick at one and managed to take her down without harming her victim. Castiel was striking with his angel blade, taking out as many and as fast as Dean. Dean had to admit he was impressed… and, he mentally shrugged, a bit turned on.

              Cutting a swath through the crowd, the four were taking down the vamps, but the people danced on, sprayed with blood, a couple had pieces of grime stuck to their faces from when a vamp exploded too close. One guy was dancing with the disembodied arm of his vampire partner.

              Jack got tossed to the side, grimacing as he hit the wall. Sam was there in an instant, firing off a round before the monster had a chance to take advantage of the opening. He held a hand out and pulled Jack to his feet.

              “You okay?”

              “I’m fine,” Jack shook off the hand on his shoulder. He hated the weaknesses he had as a human.

              Sam nodded and turned back to the crowd. Neither one of them noticed the man in the back watching their movements.

              “Sam!” Dean yelled across the din. “I think we’re just about wrapping up here!” He paused to decapitate another vamp and sent blood spraying across the pure white dress of a girl who was smiling unwittingly through the mess. “We need to find this Cronus guy and lock him up!”

              Cas stabbed another vamp in the heart then looked around. “I think that’s all of them.”

              Sam came across the gym floor still aiming his gun into the crowd, trying to see any signs of further vampire attacks.

              “Can you see anything up there that I can’t?” Dean quipped.

              “Nothing,” Sam turned to survey the entire room.

              The music stopped.

              “Bravo,” came a voice from the stage. A large man in a nice suit came down the stairs. “but I’m afraid Zeus will have to do better than that. I’m not easily destroyed by trinkets.” He directed a pointed glare to Castiel’s angel blade. Cas glared back.

              “Cronus?”

              Cronus turned to Sam. “Oh, you’re a rather tall drink of water aren’t you?”

              “You need to let these people go.”

              “And what would I lure new vampires with?”

              Dean’s eyes narrowed, “Oh you won’t be luring _anything_ else here. Now come along peacefully.”

              Cronus arched an eyebrow. “Or what?” He looked expectantly at each of them. When they had no answer he gestured to the still dancing crowd. “You might as well give up. They won’t be stopping until I let them.”

              “That’s where you’re wrong, Father.”

              Cronus whirled around in astonishment. “Zeus! No! I _ate_ you!”

              Dean made a frustrated face, “Oh my god, dude.”

              Jack looked over at the brothers “Do a lot of your cases end up with cannibalism? Because I think I want to sit the next one out.”

              “It’s surprisingly common,” Castiel stage whispered.

              “Gross. No, thank you,” Jack stage whispered back. Cas smiled at the obvious influence of Dean.

              “Do you mind?” Cronus was offended by their side conversation. He pointed to himself. “God of Time,” then he pointed to them, encompassing the dancers, “inconsequential mortals.” He stopped, gurgling. A blade protruded from his chest and thick red blood poured down his front.

              Zeus pulled the scythe out of his father’s back with a yank and let the body fall. The dancers behind them were no longer dancing. A man screamed. The four hunters turned, ready to do battle again. People were stampeding out of the gym at a breakneck pace. Sam lowered his gun.

              Jack watched them go. “Guess they don’t like being covered in blood either.”

              Sam huffed a laugh beside him.

 

 

              Dean picked up an arm, piling it with the other body parts outside in the courtyard. Dousing it with lighter fluid, he flipped open a lighter and tossed it in. Cas came up beside him, watching the flames.

              “Hey, you -” he cleared his throat, “you did good today, Cas.”

              Cas side-eyed him.

              “Really. I shouldn’t have left you behind when we, uh… before.” He stared back at the fire. “I’m gonna go finish cleaning up.” He pointed with both hands to the gym doors.

              Cas stopped him with a hand to his shoulder. “Thank you, Dean.” They stood like that for a minute, holding each other’s gaze steadily. It was Dean who broke first.

              “No problem, buddy.” He smiled then walked back inside.

 

 

              Jack, curious as usual, was playing with the sound system while Sam, Cas, and Dean finished gathering the rest of the vamp parts strewn about the gym.

              Sam, cognizant of instilling a sense of responsibility in the kid, walked toward him. “Hey Jack, we could really use some help down here.”

              Jack looked up and nodded, absently flicking a switch. The first few notes of Baba O’Riley came out of the speakers and he startled back, trying to find a way to shut it off. Sam jumped up the steps to help.

              Dean looked across the gym and caught Cas’s eyes. He smiled and strode slowly over to the former angel.

              Sam shushed Jack and watched from the stage. He examined the board and found the switch he was looking for. Flipping it, confetti came streaming down from the rafters.

              Dean held out one still bloody hand, silver confetti tape stuck to his hair, and Castiel couldn’t resist. He took the hunter’s hand and they twirled around the dance floor for a few minutes before coming to a stop abruptly with the music, nose to nose.  

              Tentatively, Cas closes the gap between their lips.

              It’s light, questioning, and Dean knows if he gave the slightest indication Cas would stop. But he doesn’t want it to stop, so he surges forward, pulling the other man closer with a hand on the small of his back.

              Cas smiles and wraps a hand around the back of Dean’s head deepening the kiss.

              Neither of them notices when Sam signals to Jack and the two walk out of the gym leaving the hunter and former angel by themselves.  

 

 

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Songs mentioned:  
> Diamonds and Rust by Joan Baez  
> Enola Gay by Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark  
> The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats  
> Baba O'Riley by The Who


End file.
